Bristol Bullet to be precursor of electrified models

The Bullet, whose name was first used by Bristol a century ago on a WW1 Bristol biplane fighter, and then on an obscure 405-based Speedster in 1966, is a clear attempt by Kamkorp to pay homage to the greatest Bristol cars of the mid-1900s, before it begins a new high-technology generation. 

Orders for left and right-hand-drive Bullets are so far running at about half and half, says Noamaan Siddiqi. No sales are planned in the US for type approval reasons, though future Bristol models will be engineered to sell there. 

The Bullet roadster, revealed two years ago as Project Pinnacle and run in disguised form at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, has been styled by “an eminent Italian designer who chooses to remain anonymous”, according to Siddiqi. The car’s characteristic Bristol mouth, bonnet scoop, tailfins and general proportions all recall good-looking cars from Bristol’s earlier years, but the underpinnings will be all modern.

The exterior panels and many cockpit components are F1-quality carbonfibre, and the Bullet has a new bonded aluminium box-section chassis and an all-independent coil-over suspension designed with help from Multimatic, the Canadian-British company, which is also working with Ford on the latest generation Le Mans-winning Ford GT. 

The major chassis components are very likely to have a future in forthcoming range extender Bristol models. 

Though the Bullet is well-equipped, with a classy leather interior, a central touchscreen, machined metal switchgear and bespoke instruments, it weighs only 1130kg, around 250kg less than models of similar size and power, such as the BMW Z4.

Bristol won’t yet say where it will build cars, though an announcement is believed to be imminent. Assembly will start late this year, and Noamaan Siddiqi expects the first Bullet to reach its owner in January 2017.